Monitoring Desk
OSLO: Norway said Tuesday it was buying six US-made Seahawk helicopters for over $1 billion to replace the European NH90s it gave up on after a series of delays and setbacks.
Fed up by performance issues and delivery delays, the Norwegian government in June last year decided to cancel a contract for the delivery of 14 NH90s from the European manufacturer NH Industries (NHI).
Six aircraft were ordered for the Norwegian Navy to combat submarines, while the other eight were for surveillance and rescue missions of the coast guard.
Now, Norway is ordering six MH-60R Seahawks from US manufacturer Sikorsky, a purchase estimated to cost $1.1 billion.
In a statement, Norway’s defence ministry said that the helicopters would “initially be used by the Coast Guard; however, they will also be prepared to be equipped for anti-submarine operations.”
“With new maritime helicopters, we continue to bolster our defence readiness, presence, and vigilance in the north,” where Norway shares a border with Russia, Norway Defence Minister Bjorn Arild Gram told a news briefing.
Norway expects new aircrafts between 2025 and 2027
The new aircraft are scheduled to be supplied between 2025 and 2027.
Gram said that drones could now carry out some missions to justify the lower number of helicopters than initially envisaged.
The choice of helicopters to supply the Norwegian Navy’s four frigates has not yet been decided.
Norway justified tearing up the 2001 contract with NH Industries, including Airbus Helicopters, the Netherlands’ Fokker, and Italy’s Leonardo, by pointing to the fact that only eight fully operational helicopters had been delivered twenty years later with the original target for the full batch having been 2008.
The Norwegian military also complained about reliability, maintenance, and obsolescence issues that were reducing the number of flight hours of the NH90s.
